The Press., 1887-10-27
AANDtcAPs ON HOSPITALITY.
The Coming of the Guest Implies an Up-
 heavaI of the Routine of Living.

The Coming of the Guest Implies an Up-
 heavaI of the Routine of Living.
 With every advance that the world has made it has left some virtue behind. Now, it becomes 8 question whether the virtue of hospitality is not to be the next sacrifice to the elaborate civilization of modern life.
 The chief causes which threaten its ex- tinction are three: First, the enormous increase of travel; second, the pressure of occupation; and third, the growing ex- pensiveness of living, especially in the great centerS.
 The passion for travel which, has devel- oped in all countries, but most here in America, makes people unwilling to keep up a complicated establishment which must be shut up or left to run itself when the proprietor takes his winter trip to Florida or his summer jaunt to Norway. Each year, therefore, increases the num- Der of people who prefer to live in a hotel, or on apartment, with the fewest possible servants. This at once becomes a handi- cap on hospitality, since the coming of a guest implies an immediate upheaval of the routine of living.
 A young married man was recently look ing over the plan of 0 fiat which he was considering for 0 future home, when a friend at his elbow remarked: But it gives you no guest room.n Exactly so," was the cynical response, "that is why I have decided to take it.''
 The statement may seem brutal, but it is fact patent to all, that to keep open house in New York is to keep 0 railroad hotel. The strain upon the nervous vital ity of the host, and especially the hostess, would be enormous, even if 1t were their only occupation; but that it seldom is.
 Never perhaps in the history of the world has the pressure on the vitality the time and the nerves of men and women been so great as it is today. How can q woman sit down to calm enjoyment of q visit, when she is haunted by the ghosts of unwritten letters, unreturned calls and unread books; not to mention such prosaic specters as undarned stockings and un- cared for children? These duties may be put aside for one guest, but when the circle becomes intending, they grow into mpossibilities.
 The strain upon the man of the house is almost as great. He returns from @ days work at the office, which leaves every nerve throbbing with irritation. He is fit for nothing but dressing sack, pipe and slippers before the fire, or a restful nap on the sofa. Instead, he is requested to hurry off to meet his wife's cousins, or, still worse, his own, who are to arrive at the Grand Central station from Dakota at 7:30. Their arrival delays the dinner hour, thereby adding indigestion to his other troubles.
 So long as the expenses of living fall we'll within the income, hospitality is com- paratively easy, but the moment there is any difficulty in meeting the monthly bills Q visitor is actually dreaded. The small family economies must either be put aside and the financial problem allowed to grow still more complicated, or they must be made painfully apparent when contrasted with the aggressive abundance which riots in the streets about. How true is the saying that New York belongs to the very rich and the very poorI For the modest income there seems to be no abiding place in New York.-Parke Car roll in The Epoch.